Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the Youth Worker Café in Marion, IN. At the Café, Juanita Mejia-Goodwell shared on the 40 Developmental Assets. Before coming to the Café, I had never heard …
40 Developmental Assets: Youth Worker Cafe
The 40 Assets are 40 positive qualities that every child should experience or have in their early life. These qualities will help enrich, equip and prepare the child for a successful adult life. Not all children will experience all 40 Assets. In fact according to the Search Institute, only 11% of children will experience 31-40 of the qualities, 37% will experience 21-30, 39% will experience 11-20, and 13% will experience 0-10 (Search Institute, 2012).
Some examples of the 40 Developmental Assets are:
- Family Support
- Service to Others
- School Boundaries
- High Expectations
- Creative Activities
- Bonding to School
- Caring
- Responsibility
- Self-Esteem
The higher number of assets a child experiences the more likely they are to succeed in school, maintain good health, exhibit leadership, and value diversity. It will also lower the probability of a child’s use of alcohol, violence, the use of illicit drugs, and sexual activity (Search Institute, 2012).
As I was learning about this assets, I wondered if a child has a lower number of assets how do they gain more. In the Youth Worker Café, I was informed that a child can gain more assets from anyone. Now, not one person can provide all 40, but every person can at least provide one or more.
As a community, we can begin to help children enrich their lives and better them for the future. Whether you are a parent, teacher, bus driver, coach, neighbor, mentor, friend, police officer, mail man, doctor, or any person in the community. You can have an impact. You help a child build their self-esteem, help them set high expectations, encourage them to be involved in a creative activity, and help them in many other ways.
To learn more about the 40 Developmental Assets go to http://www.search-institute.org/research/assets/assetpower.
